Anthony Johnson, presumed drowned, found Thursday in Kalamazoo River

Gazette / Rex Hall Jr.Recovery crews search the Kalamazoo River in Comstock Township Sunday afternoon for 18-year-old Anthony Alexander Johnson, of Kalamazoo, who is presumed to have drowned early Saturday night.

COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP — An 18-year-old Kalamazoo man presumed drowned after he jumped into the Kalamazoo River last weekend was found dead in the water just before noon Thursday, police said.

Anthony A. Johnson was found partially submerged at 11:53 a.m. about 10 to 20 feet from the river's north shore and about a quarter mile west of Merrill Park in Comstock Township, Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Pali Matyas said. Matyas said deputies from the agency's marine division retrieved Johnson's body from the water at about 1:25 p.m.

Deputies had been combing the river for Johnson since Saturday when he and five friends jumped off the east side of the River Street bridge just south of King Highway and began swimming. Witnesses said Johnson, who family members described as not being a good swimmer, was overwhelmed by the current and swept downriver.

One of Johnson's friends said the group jumped into the river at about 6:25 p.m. Saturday to celebrate that the world did not end as predicted by evangelist Harold Camping.

Matyas said the area where deputies found Johnson was between a quarter mile and half mile from the River Street bridge.